


interlude: wounded (but not broken)

by spicysoo



Series: you’re giving me a heart attack [6]
Category: Given (Anime), Given (Manga)
Genre: Angst, Companion Piece, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:13:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29548443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spicysoo/pseuds/spicysoo
Summary: It's been a couple of months since Shougo and Ryou have seen Ritsuka play, but one song eliminates the joy that the two could ever have with seeing Ritsuka perform without Given.
Relationships: Itaya Shougo & Ueki Ryou & Uenoyama Ritsuka, Itaya Shougo/Ueki Ryou, Satou Mafuyu/Uenoyama Ritsuka
Series: you’re giving me a heart attack [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625599
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	interlude: wounded (but not broken)

**Author's Note:**

> This is another companion piece to 'with open ears and open hearts' but with a focus on Shougo and Ryou seeing Ritsuka play. So if you have not read that story first or any of the other stories in this series, please read them first. Otherwise, this oneshot won't make much sense.

Eyes glued to the stage, breath catching at the back of his throat, his heart brutally pounding against his chest–Shougo feared his ribs were going to break. He held his breath, quietly watching Ritsuka crumble under the pressure, destroying himself with his weakness for Mafuyu. The singer left him open like a festering wound: pink, bloody, and blighted by infection.

Shougo wasn’t an idiot. After months of witnessing Ritsuka and Mafuyu dance around each other, only to see them kiss in an abandoned classroom where the two had thought that no one was looking, Shougo knew that this performance wasn’t for Ritsuka. It was for Mafuyu… for his friends... 

Ritsuka wouldn’t normally throw himself to the wolves like this, letting his insecurity get the better of him. But ever since Mafuyu came into Ritsuka’s life, he had begun to change. Unfortunately, this performance wasn’t a change for the better, and it was frightening.

Shougo clenched his hands into fists as he noticed the insecurity and pain surfacing in Ritsuka’s expressions. It was impossible to look away; Ritsuka’s face didn’t show the pride or joy that Shohego was so used to seeing. He had only known Ritsuka a handful of years, but he knew that Ritsuka wasn’t the type to feel this way about music.

Not like this.

_Never like this._

Ritsuka might have seemed lost or even bored at times when it had come to finding himself and his music, but Shougo had never seen Ritsuka so pained as he played. He had never seen Ritsuka look so tormented, not even when he had hurt himself that one time freshman year.

He, Ryou, and Ritsuka had been trying to do some tricks on their shared bike when Ritsuka had fallen down a set of stairs. Shougo couldn’t forget the wounds Ritsuka had received that day: scraped elbows and knees and an alarming bruise to his abdomen. Still, though, the pain Ritsuka had been in that day couldn’t compare it to what Shougo was seeing now. Ritsuka was on the cusp of crying and screaming in anguish, but Shougo knew Ritsuka wouldn’t be able to do any of that.

As the song continued, Shougo effectively blocked out Hiiragi’s singing to focus on his friend, He found himself stumbling into Ryou when he noticed an alarming change in Ritsuka’s playing. On the surface, his music sounded lively and strong, but below that, it was absolutely arctic... Devoid of Ritsuka himself, and Shougo couldn’t figure out why.

 _“Is he bleeding?”_ Ryou asked.

Shougo scanned Ritsuka’s face to see if he had missed something. He continued to examine his friend until he noticed smears of blood along the neck of Ritsuka’s guitar. The slick red streaks cast a jarring contrast to the tan hue of the guitar’s maple fretboard. 

Ritsuka’s fingers were bleeding.

“Has anyone else noticed?” Shougo asked, his voice rough and shaky sounding to his ears. Ryou was quick to wrap an arm around his chest and collarbone in support.

Shougo leaned back into the embrace, Ryou’s chin finding purchase against his shoulder. Ryou shook his head and let out a sigh, “I don’t think so… People are too wrapped up in Ritsuka’s playing to notice… I’ve never seen him shine like this before…”

“It’s scary though, isn’t it?” Shougo interrupted, eyes tearing up a bit, “It feels like that isn’t even him up there. It’s like someone else is playing.”

_“It doesn’t feel right, does it?”_

Shougo nodded and reached up to give his friend a reassuring squeeze on his arm. Ryou quietly looked around to see if he could find Mafuyu, eventually spotting him near the back of the crowd. He gestured for Shougo to pull his gaze away from Ritsuka to focus on Mafuyu instead. Looking at Mafuyu, they realized that the other teen was just as gutted as them. They could feel the regret pouring off Mafuyu in waves.

When the song finally finished, Ritsuka gave a shaky bow before excusing himself from the stage as Hiiragi started to give their goodbyes. Glancing over, the two of them saw Mafuyu forcing his way through the crowd. The quiet yet soft-looking teen was grinding his teeth in frustration as he pushed against the throng of people to make his way backstage– _to see Ritsuka_.

Because after this performance, there was no one else that he would rather see.

Understanding that Mafuyu needed to talk to Ritsuka first, Shougo and Ryou quickly decided to talk to Ritsuka later. The two would need to help fix some of the damage that had been done.

As much as Mafuyu may have regretted his actions, Shougo knew Ritsuka wouldn’t be able to bounce back from this easily. He and Ryou would need to help Ritsuka through this.

Ritsuka would need all of them to recover…

He had to recover.

_He had to._

Closing his eyes, suddenly exhausted by the night’s events, Shougo quietly turned his attention to Ryou, “We’ll talk to him later, yeah?”

Ryou, feeling just as drained as Shougo, softly replied, “Of course we will. We are his best friends after all.”

Giving Ryou’s arm another squeeze, Shougo eventually gave his friend a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “Mafuyu too?”

While Ryou, unable to stop himself from pulling Shougo until the other was flush against him, could only say:

_“Mafuyu too… Ritsuka wouldn’t want us to exclude him.”_

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this and will look forward to the next (and possibly final work) I have planned for this series. Ryou and Shougo will show their faces again, as well as appearances by Ugetsu, Waka, and Yatake. So please be on the lookout for it, and if you liked this or any of the other stories within this series, drop a comment if you can. :)


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